Field Guide Geology and Mining History of the Kern
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FIELD GUIDE GEOLOGY AND MINING HISTORY OF THE KERN CANYON, LAKE ISABELLA AND WALKER BASIN, KERN COUNTY CALIFORNIA Gregg Wilkerson 2017 1 Acknowledgements This field guide is adapted from field guides produced by the Buena Vista Museum of Natural History and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management from 1993 through 2003. Almost all of the mine descriptions in this field guide are adapted from those found in the Troxell and Morton (1968) report on the “Mines and Mineral Resources of Kern County.” Field Trip Overview This field trip leaves the Coseree's Deli parking lot at 8:15 a.m. We then take High- way 178 up through the Kern Canyon to Lake Isabella. After visiting sites around the lake we take the Havilah-Bodfish road south toward Walker Basin. We visit the museum in Havilah and return to Bakersfield through Twin Oaks on Caliente Creek. Participants should all bring water and a sack lunch. Contents ROAD LOGS.......................................................5 PART 1: BAKERSFIELD TO LAKE ISABELLA............................5 AREA MAP 01................................................5 AREA MAP 02...............................................11 AREA MAP 03...............................................15 WATER DISTRIBUTION OF KERN RIVER.....................15 STOP NO. 1. MOUTH OF KERN CANYON: PG&E POWER HOUSE...........................................17 GOLD IN KERN COUNTY..................................22 AREA MAP 04...............................................28 STOP NO. 2: RICHBAR HYDRAULIC MINING.................31 AREA MAP 05...............................................34 STOP NO. 3 DEMOCRAT HOT SPRINGS......................36 DELONEGA HOT SPRINGS.................................40 GREENHORN MOUNTAIN MINING DISTRICT...................42 AREA MAP 06...............................................44 STOP NO. 4 KERGON AND MIRACLE MINES..................44 LITTLE SPARKLER MINE.................................52 2 STOPS NO 5. AND NO. 6: REMINGTON AND MIRACLE HOT SPRINGS.........................................54 BOREL POWER PLANT....................................58 AREA MAP 07...............................................60 ISABELLA PARK........................................60 ROOF PENDANTS........................................62 ERSKIN CREEK MINING DISTRICT.........................63 SCOVERN HOT SPRINGS..................................66 PART 2: LAKE ISABELLA TO KERNVILLE CEMETERY....................68 STOP NO. 7: ENGINEERS POINT AND KERN RIVER FAULT.....68 KEYESVILLE MINING DISTRICT...........................73 STOP NO. 8: KEYSVILLE HYDRAULIC PIT..................75 SANDY FLAT...........................................79 AREA MAP 08...............................................80 OLD KERNVILLE CEMETARY...............................80 STOP NO. 9: BIG BLUE MINE............................80 PART 3: LAKE ISABELLA TO KELSO VALLEY..........................84 AREA MAP 07...............................................84 AREA MAP 09...............................................87 PIUTE MOUNTAIN MINING DISTRICT.......................87 INCLUDING THE CLARAVILLE (MT. SINAI, TICKNOR BASIN, EAST PIUTE MOUNTAINS), GREEN MOUNTAIN, PIONEER, SAGELAND, VALLEY VIEW, AND VAUGHN MINING AREAS.........................87 AREA MAP 10...............................................92 STOP 10: WELDON MILL SITE AND LAKE FERDINAND TERRACES........................................92 WELDON TUNGSTEN DISTRICT.............................95 AREA MAP 11..............................................102 STOP NO. 11: KELSO COMMUNITY PIT....................102 STOP NO. 12: GRANODIORITE OF RABBIT ISLAND..........106 PART 4. LAKE ISABELLA TO LORAINE..............................109 AREA MAP 07..............................................109 AREA MAP 06..............................................109 CLEAR CREEK (HAVILAH) DISTRICT......................109 RED MOUNTAIN TUNGSTEN DISTRICT......................112 STOP NO. 13: BODISH GABBRO..........................113 TUNGSTEN KING OR KING TUNGSTEN MINE.................117 AREA MAP 12..............................................118 STOP 14. HAVILAH MUSEUM.............................118 STOP NO. 15. TUNGSTEN CHIEF MINE....................122 3 AREA MAP 13..............................................126 AREA MAP 14..............................................126 STOP NO. 16: JOE WALKER MINE........................127 AREA MAP 15..............................................132 LORAINE (AGUA CALIENTE, AMALIE, PARIS) DISTRICT.....132 AREA MAP 16..............................................136 STOP NO. 17; AMAILIE MINE AND MILL..................136 BARBAROSA MINE......................................144 GOLDEN PEAK AND COWBOY MINES........................148 ZENDA MINE..........................................149 AREA MAP 17..............................................150 AREA MAP 18..............................................150 1952 ARVIN-TEHACHAPI EARTHQUAKE.....................151 REFERENCES....................................................156 APPENDIX 1: DESCRIPTION OF ROCK TYPES.........................158 APPENDIX 2: ROAD MAPS.........................................162 4 ROAD LOGS PART 1: BAKERSFIELD TO LAKE ISABELLA AREA MAP 01 0.0 Beale Library Parking Lot. Go out of the parking lot to "S" street. Turn LEFT on "S" street to Truxtun Ave. Turn LEFT onto Truxtun Avenue and go west to "Q" Street. 0.1 Intersection of Truxtun Avenue and "Q" Street. TURN RIGHT on "Q" Street head north to Highway 178. 0.8 Highway 178 and "Q" street. TURN RIGHT at Golden State Avenue, immediately enter the circular on ramp and head east toward Isabella on Highway 178. The rocks beneath us are marine sediments of Pliocene and Pleistocene age. These names refer to geologic ages (see Figure 1). The sediments were washed into this area from the ancestral Sierra Nevada Mountains. The San Joaquin Basin is over 30,000 feet deep, containing sediments of at least Cretaceous to Recent age (Figure 2). The valley was once a great inland sea basin that was inundated or flooded periodically. As the basin sank, sediments from the rising mountains to the east (ancestral Sierra Nevada) and lessor amounts from the west accumulated in the valley. This sinking was due both to the weight of sediment and from compressive forces between the North American and Pacific continental plates. Geologists that study sequences of rock strata are called stratigraphers. The science is based on two principles identified in 1669 by Nicholas Steno, an Italian physician. The principles are called the Principle of original Horizontality and the Principle of Superposition. The first principle states that rock layers are originally laid down in a horizontal position. The second principle states that in an undisturbed sequence of rocks, the oldest are on the bottom and the youngest are on top. Using this science, 5 stratigraphers have identified many mappable rock layers in the Southern San Joaquin Valley and other regions. By correlating rock layers of similar type and age around the world, geologists have built up the "Geologic Column", a generalization about the age relationships of rocks of the earth's crust (Figure 1). Geologists have found that each rock layer has an unique assemblages of fossils. In general, older fossils are smaller and simpler, younger fossils appear more like modern living forms and generally are more complex. By studying the fossils, determinations can be made where a rock layer would fit into the Geologic Column. In this way, relative ages for the sequence rocks can be determined. 5.8 Fairfax Road intersection. 6.7 Road cut in Pleistocene gravels of the Kern River Formation at Morning Drive. These gravels are known to contain small amounts of gold. The stratigraphic relationships between this and other sedimentary units in this area are illustrated in Figures 4, 5, and 6. These same gravels are at the site of the old city dump. (The overhanging condominiums of Park Place now look at this area). The Omar Hill co- generation plant also rests on this gravel bed. Some of these developments may be built atop gold deposits. No systematic survey has yet been published for them. Most of the land in Kern County was originally patented and developed as agricultural land. Little gold mining activity has occurred outside of the mountainous and desert areas of the county. 6 Figure 1. Geologic Time Scale 7 Figure 2. Cross Sections through the San Joaquin Valley (Webb and Norris, 1966). 8 Figure 3. Stratigraphy, lithology and depositional environments 9 Figure 4. Generalized Cross Section of Southern San Joaquin Valley (From CDOGGR) 10 AREA MAP 02 7.2 Kern Bluff oil field on left (north). This oil field is a faulted homocline (Figure 5). Figure 5. Kern Bluff Oil Field (from CDOOGR). 8.1 Mesa Marin Raceway (Former location, now a sports complex development). 11 A this point you can see Pyramid Hill to the north with its white pyramid shape. The exposed formations are the Walker, Vedder, Round Mountain and Olcese. These formations have known oil production beneath the valley floor to the east. 9.2 Housing development of Vista Finestra on the left. 9.6 Green Hills Drive. This development originally used water from wells. This water became contaminated with oil from the Ant Hill oilfield. The water wells were abandoned and now these homes get treated water from the Kern River. Ant Hill oil field on far south (right). The 315 acre field was discovered in July, 1944. The structure is a faulted anticline. The field produces primarily from